Steven Till

The Angevin dynasty was established in the county of Anjou, France. In the 12th century, the dynasty ascended to the English throne under Henry II as a result of the marriage of Geoffrey of Anjou to Maltida, daughter of Henry I. King Henry II’s descendants became the Platagenets, and the Plantagenet house ruled England until Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

In 1203, Philip II of France took the county of Anjou from King John of England.

Charles I, Count of Anjou, founded a second Angevin dynasty, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty, around 1266. This dynasty ruled in Naples and Sicily until 1422, even though the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282 caused Charles to flee Sicily.

Main source:

O’Brien, Patrick K., gen. ed. “Angevin dynasty.” Encyclopedia of World History. Copyright George Philip Limited. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE49&iPin=ewh00249&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 8, 2010).

Additional Reading / References:

• Medieval Sourcebook - Angevin England 
• Royalty.nu - English Royal History - The Angevin Dynasty
• England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075 - 1225 by Robert Bartlett
• England under the Angevin Kings, Vol I. by Kate Norgate

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History on February 8th, 2010 | No Comments »

Husbandry
[huhz-buhn-dree]

1) the cultivation and production of edible crops or of animals for food; agriculture; farming.
2) the science of raising crops or food animals.

From Walter of Henly on Animal Husbandry, c. 1275:

Sort out your cattle once a year between Easter and Whitsuntide—that is to say, oxen, cows, and herds—and let those that are not to be kept be put to fatten; if you lay out money to fatten them with grass you will gain. And know for truth that bad beasts cost more than good. Why? I will tell you. If it be a draft beast he must be more thought of than the other and more spared, and because he is spared the others are burdened for his lack. And if you must buy cattle buy them between Easter and Whitsuntide, for then beasts are spare and cheap. And change your horses before they are too old and worn out or maimed, for with little money you can rear good and young ones, if you sell and buy in season. It is well to know how one ought to keep cattle, to teach your people, for when they see that you understand it they will take the more pains to do well.

Filed under: Medieval Timeline, Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary on February 5th, 2010 | No Comments »

No Law in the Land by Michael Jecks
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (September 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0755344189

Editorial Review from Publishers Weekly:

Set in the autumn of 1325, Jecks’s 27th Knights Templar mystery (after July 2009’s The King of Thieves) boasts an exciting, twisting plot. England’s Edward II rules a kingdom thick with dishonest men, including his own second-in-command and confidant, Sir Hugh le Despenser. Justice is unknown, and the classes are clearly and cruelly divided between the powerful and the powerless. When a well-organized band of what appear to be outlaws slaughters a large group of travelers in Devon, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, keeper of the King’s Peace, and his friend, Simon Puttock, investigate. That a large chest of silver bound for the king was stolen is no surprise, but why are two of the murdered party’s members, one a monk, nowhere to be found? The period language can be difficult in places, but a glossary and cast of characters will help keep readers on track. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description:

King Edward II is furious when he learns that his wife Queen Isabella has defied him and remains in France with their son. As the unfortunate messengers of this unhappy news, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, and his friend, bailiff Simon Puttock, are instantly dismissed from court. Returning to their homes in Devon, the pair are shocked to find that outlaws now hold sway in the land. As the chaos escalates, the bodies of two clerics are found among a party of travelers, all of them—men, women, and children—savagely murdered. Baldwin and Simon are called to investigate, but when they discover the culprit is a friend of the king, they become wary about accusations of treason. Until, that is, Simon’s own daughter suddenly disappears.

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History, Historical Fiction on February 4th, 2010 | 3 Comments »

As one of the most recognizable religious buildings in England, Tewkesbury Abbey stands along the river Avon on a site possibly once occupied by an 8th century Benedictine monastery. In the year 1087, King William gave the Manor of Tewkesbury to Robert FitzHamon, and in 1092, Robert and the Abbot Giraldus founded the abbey.

Tewkesbury has two prominent architectural styles: the eight-bay nave (completed in 1121) with Norman piers and arches, and the Decorated-style chancel, which still contains the original medieval windows. The abbey’s long nave, including its Romanesque tower, is one of the longest and most magnificent in all of England. Even though the abbey was founded in 1092, construction of the present abbey did not actually begin until 1102. Tewkesbury was consecrated in the year 1121.

After Robert Fitzhamon’s death in 1107, Robert’s son-in-law, Robert Fitzroy, took over the building project. Fitzroy was the illegitimate son of King Henry I and the first Earl of Gloucester.

One of the greatest patrons of the abbey was the Lady Eleanor le Despenser of the de Clare family, who were heirs of FitzRoy.

The famous Battle of Tewkesbury during the Wars of the Roses was fought near this site, and after the battle, some of the defeated Lancastrians fled to the abbey for protection, but the Yorkist forces led by King Edward IV chased them down and slaughtered them.

Today, the abbey is undergoing conservation work. Plans for the future include: work on the walls of the tower, the transepts, and the south side of the monastery.

Main Sources:

http://www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk/his.htm

http://www.timeref.com/hpl619.htm

Filed under: Architecture, Middle Ages History, Medieval History on February 2nd, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Over the weekend, I finished re-writing the first two chapters of my novel. These chapters, while likely still in need of some editing, should serve as the first two chapters in the final version. I don’t foresee re-writing them yet another time. I’ve lost count, but I think this is the third or fourth time these chapters have gone through major revisions.

I’ve submitted the first chapter to an online critique group for feedback. Critique Circle is the online group I normally use. The readers there are opinionated and constructive for the most part, which is what every writer needs. Each review is pretty well thought out. You don’t get a lot of those non-helpful critiques like “This is great,” or “This is terrible,” which is nice.

Based on the feedback from these critiques, I hope to have the first chapter up on my site by next month. While it won’t be perfect, it will at least be the first serviceable thing I’ve written for a first chapter in the past 8 years.

My plans going forward will be to eliminate the third and fifth chapters entirely. I have never really liked the point-of-view or the story line in those chapters, so I’m skipping them for this go-around. I can always bring them back if I feel the story needs them, but I’ve never really felt they served much purpose anyway. I can basically sum up in a one-sentence dialogue what happened in those two chapters.

So chapter four will actually become chapter three, and from chapter four (or the new three) going forward the story lines start to come together a bit better, and everything in terms of characters and voice and style is more cohesive and developed.

It’s difficult to estimate when the entire fifth revision of my novel will be complete, but my goal right now is set for end of August.  Even with eliminating chapters three and five, I still have about 300 pages to edit.

Filed under: Novel on February 1st, 2010 | 10 Comments »

Writ:
[rit]
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old English writan to write

1) Sealed document, transmitting an order from the king or his courts. (Sayles, George O. The King’s Parliament of England, 146)

2) A royal order to a definite person; a mandate commanding something to be done, usually by the sheriff of the county wherein an injury is committed or is supposed to be, requiring him to command the wrongdoer or party accused, either to do justice to the complainant or else to appear in court and answer the accusation against him. (Hogue, Arthur R. Origins of the Common Law, 258)

*definitions retreived from NetSERF’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/)

From the Pleas at Northampton in the Fourth Year of the Reign of King John, the Hundred of Cleley

The jurors say that Hugh, son of Walter Priest, was outlawed for the death of Roger Rombald at the suit of Robert Rombald, and afterwards returned under the [protection of the] king’s writ, and afterwards was outlawed for the same death on the appeal of Geoffrey, Thurstan’s son.

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary, Medieval History on January 29th, 2010 | No Comments »

On this date, January 28th, in medieval history:

• 814 - Charlemagne dies at Aachen
• 1457 - Henry VII is born
• 1547 - Death of Henry VIII

The following account of Charlemagne’s death is from the king’s long-time friend and courtier, Einhard:

Toward the close of his life [813], when he was broken by ill-health and old age, he summoned Louis, Kigi of Aquitania, his onlv surviving son by Hildegard, and gathered together all the chief men of the whole kingdom of the Franks in a solemn assembly. He appointed Louis, with their unanimous consent, to rule with himself over the whole kingdom and constituted him heir to the imperial name; then, placing the diadem upon his son’s head, he bade him be proclaimed Emperor and is step was hailed by all present favor, for it really seemed as if God had prompted him to it for the kingdom’s good; it increased the King’s dignity, and struck no little terror into foreign nations. After sending his son son back to Aquitania, although weak from age he set out to hunt, as usual, near his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, and passed the rest of the autumn in the chase, returning thither about the first of November [813]. While wintering there, he was seized, in the month of January, with a high fever Jan 22 814], and took to his bed. As soon as he was taken sick, he prescribed for himself abstinence from food, as he always used to do in case of fever, thinking that the disease could be driven off , or at least mitigated, by fasting. Besides the fever, he suffered from a pain in the side, which the Greeks call pleurisy; but he still persisted in fasting, and in keeping up his strength only by draughts taken at very long intervals. He died January twenty-eighth, the seventh day from the time that he took to his bed, at nine o’clock in the morning, after partaking of the holy communion, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign [Jan 28, 814].

Filed under: Medieval Timeline, Middle Ages History, Medieval History on January 28th, 2010 | No Comments »

The following are literary Web sites I came across:

Bartleby
Bartleby is the preeminent Internet publisher of literature, reference, and verse providing students, researchers and the intellectually curious with unlimited access to books and information on the web, free of charge. The site also offers an encyclopedia, dictionary and thesaurus.

DailyLit
DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail or RSS feed. It currently offers over 1000 classic and contemporary books available entirely for free or on a Pay-Per-Read basis (with sample installments available for free). You can read your installments wherever you receive e-mail/RSS feeds, including on your Blackberry and iPhone. Installments arrive in your Inbox according to the schedule you set (e.g. 7:00am every weekday). You can read each installment in under 5 minutes (most folks finish in 2-3 minutes), and, if you have more time to read, you can receive additional installments immediately on demand. Titles include bestselling and award winning titles, from literary fiction and romance to language learning and science fiction. DailyLit features forums where you can discuss your favorite books and authors.

Wikibooks
Wikibooks is a Wikimedia community for creating a free library of educational textbooks that anyone can edit. Wikibooks began on July 10, 2003; since then Wikibooks has grown to include over 38,711 pages in a multitude of textbooks created by volunteers. Subjects include Humanities (e.g. - History), Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Computing and Special Groups. For example, a chapter on medieval history can be found under Humanities > History > World History. There is also a section of Featured Books.

Filed under: Uncategorized on January 27th, 2010 | 2 Comments »

From telegraph.co.uk:

Scientists hope to exhume the remains of Leonardo da Vinci so they can reconstruct his face to discover whether the Mona Lisa is a disguised self-portrait.

Scientists and historians from Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage have sought permission to open the artist’s tomb at Amboise Castle in the Loire valley.

While the identity of the Mona Lisa has been debated for centuries, some scholars have suggested that da Vinci may have painted himself as a woman in the masterpiece due to his love of riddles.

Read the full story.

Filed under: Archaeology, Middle Ages History, Medieval History on January 26th, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Tenure
[ten-yer]
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French teneure, tenure, from Medieval Latin tenitura, from Vulgar Latin *tenitus, past participle of Latin ten?re to hold

1) A general term for all interests in land; an act or right of holding; a right in land dependent upon a grant from a superior. (Hogue, Arthur R. Origins of the Common Law, 258)

2) In the medieval sense the holding of a piece of land by giving military service to the possessor of the land. (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 251)

From Englebert, Lord of Engien: A Grant of Free Roads, 1210

I, Englebert, Lord of Engien, make known to all men, both present and future, that Wichard, knight of Causines, my vassal, has declared in my presence, and in the presence of my vassals, and has acknowledged that he has given in free tenure to the church of Our Lady of Camberon a certain road through his land, which he holds as a fief from me, from the Marche river as far as Five Oaks, to be possessed in perpetual right.

*definitions retreived from NetSERF’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/)

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary, Medieval History on January 22nd, 2010 | No Comments »